


surprise

by ragnarokdad



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Military Uniforms, Secret Relationship, infinity war and endgame don't exist, russo brothers don't interact
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-02-04 16:21:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18608140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ragnarokdad/pseuds/ragnarokdad
Summary: Sam finds a picture of Bucky in his 1940's uniform, and discovers that he looks really, really good in it.





	1. Chapter 1

Sam walked into the living room of the flat that he shared with Steve and Bucky, having just come back from a workout. There was no sign of Bucky - Steve was the only one there.

Sam bent down over the back of the couch, peeking over Steve’s shoulder at his laptop as he scrolled through an article. 

‘What’re you looking at?’ he asked.

Steve shrugged. ‘The New York Times did a deep dive on Bucky and my story. I was just having a look to see what they got right.’ 

‘Did they get anything right?’ asked Sam, eyeing the screen. 

‘Most things,’ Steve replied as he scrolled down, pausing at some pictures from their time in the war. ‘Not a bad job, as far as articles like this go.’ 

Sam nodded at the picture. ‘Is that what Bucky looked like?’ 

‘Yeah, you never seen this before?’ 

Sam shook his head. Bucky looked - well, he looked  _ good.  _ His hair was far shorter than it was now, and the uniform he was wearing was… really quite flattering. 

Sam cleared his throat, straightening back to full height. 

‘You should go to the museum,’ said Steve, an amused and knowing look on his face. ‘There are plenty of pictures of Bucky in uniform there.’ 

Sam rolled his eyes, leaving the room.

* * *

 

Later that evening when Sam was reading in bed, his bedroom door opened. Standing there was Bucky, clad in sweatpants, with a sleepy but content look on his face.

‘Can I help you?’ asked Sam, amused.

‘Thought you could use some company,’ said Bucky, walking up to the bed and lying down on top of the sheets next to Sam.

Sam put his book on his bedside table, turning to his side and propping himself up on his elbow. ‘You’re late.’

‘Wasn’t aware I had a curfew.’

Sam smiled slightly, and Bucky leant in, giving Sam a kiss.

‘Steve convinced me to train with him,’ he told him. ‘Trust me, I would’ve much rather been here instead.’

He began kissing Sam more, pulling aside the covers and rolling on top of him.

‘You didn’t think to tell him that you had more important things to do?’ asked Sam, running a hand through Bucky’s hair.

‘And tell him that his best friends are sleepin’ together?’ said Bucky. ‘I can’t do that to him.’

Sam snorted. ‘I think he already knows.’

‘Yeah? What makes you think that?’

Sam thought back to the conversation about the uniform. ‘No reason.’

Bucky hummed, clearly not interested in pursuing the conversation any further, and began kissing down Sam’s neck.

Sam let him, looking up at the ceiling for a moment before asking, ‘Hey, do you still have your old uniform?’ 

Bucky stopped, pushing himself back to eye level with Sam and giving him a confused look. ‘What?’ 

‘Your army uniform,’ said Sam. ‘From the war. Do you still have that?’ 

‘Uh… I think the Smithsonian has it,’ Bucky responded. ‘Why?’ 

‘No reason,’ said Sam innocently. Bucky raised his eyebrows until Sam relented and continued ‘It just might be uh… interesting to see you in it some time.’ 

Bucky’s face broke into a grin.

‘ _ Don’t  _ laugh.’ 

‘I’m not laughing,’ Bucky assured him, not even trying to hide his smile. ‘What inspired this idea?’ 

‘Steve showed me a picture,’ Sam told him. ‘You looked  _ good.’  _

‘Don’t I still look good?’ 

‘‘Course you do,’ said Sam. ‘You know you do. It’s just… different good.’ 

‘Didn’t know you had such a thing for a man in uniform.’ 

‘Shut up,’ Sam said, and Bucky grinned again. 

‘I’ll see what I can do,’ said Bucky, and went back to kissing him. 

* * *

 

When Bucky came out of the bathroom a few mornings later, Sam couldn’t help but do a double take. He’d shaved, washed his hair and tied it back neatly, and overall looked a little more put together than he normally did. 

‘Is there some kind of event on that I forgot about?’ asked Sam as Bucky came into the kitchen. 

‘No, why?’ replied Bucky innocently, but Sam could see the smug look on his face. Bucky knew exactly what he was doing. 

‘What’s gotten into you?’ asked Sam, grinning as Bucky leaned in to kiss his cheek. ‘Wait, are you wearing aftershave?’ 

‘You make it sound like I never take care of myself.’ 

‘Not what I’m saying,’ said Sam. ‘You’re just usually a little scruffier than this.’ 

Sam reached out and touched Bucky’s cheek, and a flash of doubt crossed Bucky’s face. ‘Don’t you like it?’ 

‘‘Course I like it,’ Sam assured him, and gave him a quick kiss. ‘You look great.’

That seemed to settle Bucky’s nerves.

* * *

 

Sam knew Bucky was up to something, but he couldn’t quite figure out what. Bucky had been wearing a knowing look the entire day. 

That evening, when Bucky pulled Sam to his bedroom and kissed him, he pulled away after a minute and said, ‘I’ve got a surprise for you.’ 

Sam raised his eyebrows. ‘A surprise?’ 

‘Yeah, wait here,’ said Bucky, pushing Sam onto the bed and leaving the room. 

Sam waited, curious to see what today’s secrecy was leading up to. 

A few moments later, the door opened, and Sam’s jaw dropped. Standing there was Bucky dressed in his 1940′s uniform. 

He looked even better than he had in the grainy photos Steve had shown him. The uniform was maybe a little snug with the added muscle that Bucky had put on since, but it looked… well. It looked hotter than Sam could’ve even imagined. 

Sam finally managed to make words come out of his mouth and said, ‘How did you get-’ 

‘Don’t ask,’ interrupted Bucky, walking up to the bed. ‘You’ll just ruin it.’ 

_ He definitely stole it,  _ thought Sam to himself, but he wasn’t about to complain about that, not right now. 

Instead, he pulled Bucky onto the bed so that he was straddling Sam’s lap, looking up at him. 

‘Good?’ asked Bucky, looking down at Sam with a pleased expression. 

‘Really good,’ were the only words Sam could manage, and Bucky grinned widely before kissing him. 

* * *

The next day, Sam barely managed to drag himself out of bed by noon. Steve was making lunch in the kitchen, looking at the little tablet he had propped up on the counter.

‘Someone broke into the Smithsonian yesterday,’ he said as Sam walked in and poured himself a cup of juice.

Sam looked up at the article Steve was read, and tried to look as surprised as he could. ‘Oh?’

‘They only stole something from the Captain America display, apparently,’ continued Steve. ‘Assholes.’

‘Did it say what they stole?’ asked Sam as he put the juice back into the fridge.

Steve shook his head in response. ‘Nope.’

‘Hm, might be a weird fan or something,’ said Sam. ‘I’m sure it’ll turn up.’

‘It better.’

‘I mean, you definitely did also steal from that display,’ Sam noted.

Steve seemed to grin despite himself. ‘Yeah, but in my defence, it was my stuff.’

Just then, Bucky came through to the kitchen, walking up behind Sam and wrapping his arms around his waist when Steve wasn’t paying attention, his attention back on the article.

‘Morning,’ Sam said. ‘Someone broke into the Smithsonian.’

Bucky let go of Sam, leaning against the counter. ‘Huh. That sucks.’

There wasn’t a hint of any compromising expression from Bucky - Sam was rather impressed with how well he could lie.

‘They took some of our stuff from the war,’ Steve elaborated.

‘Damn.’

‘Yeah, hopefully they find it,’ Steve said, pouring himself another cup of coffee.

‘Well, it’s just an old uniform,’ said Bucky with a shrug. ‘There’s loads of old war uniforms about.’

Steve frowned. ‘…They didn’t disclose what it was that was stolen.’

Bucky’s eyes widened ever so slightly, realising his mistake.

Steve stared at him. ‘Bucky, did you steal-‘

‘It was my stuff!’ Bucky interjected. ‘I was just taking back what was mine.’

‘Sure, but still, I’m sure that if you’d asked them for it-‘

‘You did the  _ exact same  _ thing as me!’ Bucky huffed.

‘I had a good reason for it!’ teased Steve.

‘I had a good reason for it, too!’

Steve sighed, and just shook his head in response, smiling all the while.

‘Yeah, we can’t return that uniform,’ muttered Sam, getting to his feet, and Steve gave him a quizzical look. 

Bucky shook his head and said, ‘Nope, we can’t.’ 

Steve frowned. ‘Why-’ 

‘It’s probably better if you don’t ask,’ Sam told him. ‘Anyway- Barnes, I need your help with something.’ 

Bucky got to his feet. ‘Right behind ya.’ 

As Sam walked out of the kitchen, he glanced back to see looking a little confused. 

‘He’ll figure it out,’ he said to Bucky, who gave him a knowing smile in response. 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam has a surprise for Bucky as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uuuuh I wasn't planning on writing a part two, but here we are anyway! 
> 
> Thank you so much to [captainshakespear](http://captainshakespear.tumblr.com/) for proofreading!

It wasn’t until a few mornings later that Sam decided he needed to do something in return. Well, he didn’t  _ need  _ to, but he wanted to- after all, Bucky  _ had _ broken into the Smithsonian for him. 

It had been on his mind during his run, and by the time Sam was back at the flat and had showered, Bucky was only just waking up. 

‘Morning,’ he murmured, as Sam fell back onto his bed next to him with a towel wrapped around his waist. ‘Had a good run?’ 

Sam nodded, before reaching over and brushing Bucky’s hair out of his eyes. ‘You need a haircut.’ 

‘Shall I crop it like I had it in the war? I’m sure you’d like that.’ 

‘I’m sure I would,’ Sam replied with a grin, before sitting up and leaning against the headboard. ‘Hey, I had a question.’ 

Bucky propped himself up on his elbows. ‘Ask away.’ 

‘What’re you into?’ 

Bucky frowned. ‘What am I… into?’

‘Like, with sex and stuff,’ added Sam. ‘Now that we’ve done this whole uniform thing, I think we should try something you like.’ 

‘I liked the uniform thing.’ 

‘Yeah, but that was still more for me,’ said Sam. ‘I meant something that’s catered more towards you.’ 

Bucky sighed, rolled onto his back, and muttered, ‘I don’t know.’ 

‘You don’t know what you’re into, or you don’t know if you want to try anything?’ 

‘I don’t know what I’m into,’ Bucky clarified. ‘Don’t exactly have the experience. Or maybe I do, but in that case I don’t have the memory.’ 

Sam slid back down to lie next to Bucky. ‘You don’t need experience to know what you’re into, do you?’ 

Bucky let out another, more frustrated sigh. ‘I don’t  _ know,  _ okay? I don’t know shit about myself.’ 

Feeling bad for pushing the conversation, Sam smiled sympathetically and reached out to wrap an arm around Bucky. 

‘I was just curious,’ he told him, trailing his hand over Bucky’s back. ‘I want to make you feel as good as you made me feel.’ 

Bucky’s expression softened and he smiled slightly--something surged in Sam’s chest as he did. Huh. That was new. 

‘I’ll… I’ll think about it,’ said Bucky eventually. 

‘Alright, but no pressure,’ Sam told him, and leaned in to kiss him. 

Bucky smiled a little wider. 

* * *

The next morning, Steve was running at Sam’s pace. This was quite unusual- Sam was wondering what Steve was up to. He waited patiently for Steve to break their comfortable silence as they ran alongside each other. 

‘So,’ Steve said eventually. ‘When’re you going to tell me what’s up between you and Bucky?’ 

Sam almost-  _ almost-  _ stopped dead in his tracks, stunned by the sudden question, but regained his composure enough to reply, ‘What’re you talking about?’ 

‘You two aren’t subtle at all,’ Steve told him with a slight laugh. ‘Or quiet. Did you really think I wouldn’t notice?’ 

Sam didn’t know what to say- he knew it would only be a matter of time before Steve found out, but this was nonetheless unexpected. 

‘So… is it serious?’ asked Steve, slowing down to a walk. 

Sam matched his pace, and still felt at a loss of words. 

‘Uh- maybe?’ he answered after a moment. ‘We, uh… haven’t really talked about it.’ 

‘Do you want it to be serious?’ 

‘What’s with the interrogation?’ muttered Sam. 

‘Just curious,’ Steve replied. ‘And making sure you guys aren’t doing anything that you might, uh… regret.’ 

‘We know what we’re doing, we’re both adults-’ 

‘I know, I know,’ Steve said quickly. ‘But also, I don’t want it to complicate things between you two. I mean, Bucky’s still fragile, and to an extent so are you- we’ve all been through a lot.’ 

Sam knew that Steve was right. He also wanted to assure him that this wasn’t going to make anything weird, that everything between him and Bucky was fine, but the truth was that he’d never talked to Bucky about it. 

They’d never labeled it, they’d never even discussed what would happen if- when- Steve found out. 

‘It just sort of… happened,’ Sam told Steve. ‘But you’re right, I should talk to him about it.’ 

Steve gave Sam a small smile. ‘Yeah, might be a good idea.’ 

Sam nodded, and Steve suddenly picked up the pace again, his strides soon too fast for Sam to keep up with. Sam sighed deeply, and reluctantly followed after him. 

* * *

‘So, Steve knows about us,’ Sam announced when Bucky came into the living room later that day. ‘Not that that’s surprising.’ 

Bucky stopped and looked a little taken aback at the news. ‘He- oh.’ 

‘Yeah,’ Sam said. ‘Oh.’ 

‘Well, guess that was bound to happen at some point,’ muttered Bucky, and continued towards the kitchen without another word. 

‘Hey- hold on,’ Sam called after him, standing up from where he had been sitting on the couch. ‘I wanted to talk to you about it.’ 

‘You just did,’ Bucky said, turning in the doorframe to face Sam. 

‘Yeah, but I wanted to discuss it with you,’ Sam told him. ‘’Cause I didn’t really know what to tell him about us.’ 

‘You just said he already knew.’ 

‘Yeah, but I didn’t know how to label it,’ said Sam. ‘Didn’t know what to tell him about  _ what  _ we’re- what this is.’ 

Bucky fell silent, looking at Sam expectantly. 

‘Do you know what this is?’ Sam then prompted. ‘Or what you want this to be?’ 

Bucky shrugged. ‘Do you?’ 

‘Don’t answer my question with a question.’ 

‘Don’t ask me a question, then,’ Bucky answered, sounding defensive. 

Sam gave Bucky an exasperated look. ‘Come on, Bucky, we’re gonna have to have this conversation at some point.’ 

Bucky crossed his arms. ‘We’re talking, aren’t we?’ 

‘Then answer my question.’ 

Bucky huffed in response, and Sam walked up to him, his hand on Bucky’s right arm in a feeble attempt to de-escalate the sudden change in mood between them. 

‘There’s no wrong answer, alright?’ Sam told him. ‘I just want to make sure we’re not doing anything where one of us is gonna end up hurt. ‘Cause if this is just a casual thing, then maybe it’s better if we just… end it. But if it’s not, then…’ 

Finally, Bucky’s defenses dropped and his eyes fell on Sam’s hand on his arm. 

‘I don’t want this to end,’ he murmured. 

Sam felt a sudden rush of relief- he wasn’t even aware that he’d been nervous for Bucky’s answer. 

‘Good,’ he told Bucky. ‘Me neither.’ 

Finally, Bucky looked back up to Sam. ‘I… you’re- uh…’ 

He took a deep breath, and Sam gave his arm a small squeeze. 

‘I care about you, Sam,’ Bucky then said. 

Sam smiled at that before leaning forward and placing a kiss on Bucky’s lips. 

‘I care about you, too,’ he replied. 

* * *

A few hours later, Sam was on the brink of falling asleep, Bucky nestled comfortably behind him with his chest pressed to Sam’s back. 

Bucky’s hand was absentmindedly caressing Sam’s arm, and Sam could feel himself drifting off. 

That was, however, until Bucky said, ‘Hey, I remembered something the other day.’ 

‘Hm?’ Sam murmured in reply. 

‘From before,’ Bucky continued. ‘About, uh… the people I slept with.’  

Sam shifted around so that he was facing Bucky, reluctantly opening his eyes again. ‘Oh?’ 

‘Yeah,’ said Bucky. ‘I remember a few girls- nothing really notable about it all, but I remember really liking what they were wearing.’ 

‘Uh-huh.’ 

Bucky continued, ‘Their… y’know, stockings ‘n stuff. And the garter belts, that was pretty- are you listening to me?’ 

Sam, whose eyes had involuntarily closed again, jerked awake and nodded. ‘Yeah, yeah, I’m listening.’ 

‘You’re falling asleep.’ 

‘That, too,’ admitted Sam with a yawn. 

Bucky smiled slightly, and leaned forward to kiss Sam. 

‘Fair, it’s late,’ he murmured. ‘Sorry, sweetheart, I’ll let you sleep’ 

Sam’s heart leaped a little at that word, and replied, ‘’S okay,’ before his eyes closed again and he finally drifted off. 

* * *

Sam didn’t know why he felt nervous. 

There he was, sitting on the couch with a pretty paper bag with some decorative tissues placed on the coffee table, waiting for Bucky to come home. 

It had been a spontaneous purchase- he’d gone into the city and passed a store that had reminded him of the sleepy conversation the night before. 

Now he was questioning why he’d even done it in the first place. It was too late to return it, however, and he heard the front door open and someone walking through the hallway. 

In came Bucky, smiling when he saw Sam. 

‘Hey, sweetheart,’ he said, letting himself fall next to Sam on the couch. He leaned in and placed a kiss on Sam’s temple. 

‘I like this, y’know,’ said Bucky. ‘Not having to worry about Steve walking in or something.’ 

Sam took Bucky’s hand. ‘Yeah, me too.’ 

Bucky eyed the bag on the coffee table. ‘What’ve you got there?’ 

‘A present,’ Sam answered, hesitantly reaching over and handing the bag to Bucky. ‘You know how you got the uniform? It’s just, uh… something to try, if you want to. You don’t have to.’ 

Bucky opened the bag, his face expressionless as he saw what was inside. 

‘You bought me… lingerie…?’ he asked, looking back up at Sam. 

‘Look, maybe this was stupid, I just thought because of last night, and the fact that you don’t- I don’t know, I can take it back if you-’ 

Finally, Bucky’s face broke into a smile, and he leaned forward and kissed Sam. 

‘I love it,’ he told him. ‘You’re sweet.’ 

Sam grinned back, feeling relieved. ‘I’m glad you like it.’ 

Bucky kissed him again, deeper this time, and Sam wrapped his arms around him, weaving a hand through Bucky’s unruly hair. 

They didn’t even notice when the front door opened again and someone walked in until Steve’s voice interrupted them with, ‘Oh, so this is happening now?’ 

Sam and Bucky pulled apart, looking up at the unexpected visitor. 

‘Whoops,’ muttered Bucky. 

‘So you two talked?’ asked Steve, looking at Sam. 

Sam cleared his throat and nodded. ‘Uh-huh.’ 

‘Though I think we oughta talk some more,’ said Bucky suddenly, grabbing the bag and getting to his feet, pulling Sam along with him. ‘C’mon Sam, let’s go.’ 

Sam couldn’t help but grin, and looked back at Steve with a shrug. 

Steve merely chuckled and said, ‘Subtle,’ as Bucky dragged Sam off to his bedroom. 

**Author's Note:**

> My first Ao3 SamBucky fic! As always, I am active on my [tumblr](http://ragnarokdad.tumblr.com/) for any further questions, further writing, and whatnot. Enjoy!
> 
> Thank you to captainshakespear for editing this. 
> 
> Also, a lovely lovely person created some [art](https://kurisu-80.tumblr.com/post/184192488172/just-leaving-this-here-follow-up-to-the-prompt) for this!


End file.
